Train Tracks | p.s

Ten

Great. Just great.

Eight hours after the asshole cop left, Seonghwa was still pissed at his words.

You can't always trust people in these parts, you know?

If that stupid prick knew anything about his parlor, he wouldn't dare question whether he was trustworthy or not.

Sure, he helped a lot of people whenever he could, but he would never affiliate himself with the gangs. For one, he didn't want to endanger Mingi, who was still someone who was targeted by some of the primary ones in the county.

Second, as far as he was concerned, his judgement wasn't that flawed. He was able to seed out the good from the bad, and so far nothing has happened to bring any concern for anyone in the law.

Was he accusing Park Seonghwa, a humble tattoo artist and charity worker, of being a front man for the infamous criminal group?

That alone was more insulting than telling him he looked innocent.

Mars eyed Jongho as they shopped, observing him from afar as he grabbed non-perishable food from the tidy shelves.

He grit his teeth. Who the hell does he think he is? Some hot shot cop that's trying his very best to bring everyone down?

That's not going to happen. He was not going to let this strawberry bitch take down what he worked hard to build.

Someone gently tapped on his shoulder, causing him to jump ever so slightly.

Wide eyed, he was greeted by Jongho, who was trying to grab his attention. "Mars? Are you okay?"

Seonghwa blinked a few times, rubbing his frustration out from his eyes. "Yeah. What's up?"

"I was wondering if I could grab this." Jongho said, holding a package of chips ahoy cookies (the original ones; if he had snagged the chewy ones off the shelf Seonghwa would disown him. He wasn't even his child). "It's for the younger ones, they've been wanting something sweet."

Seonghwa gave Jongho a small grin. "Go ahead." When the kid spoke about his family, his expression softened from his almost always unimpressed look. His eyes would begin to hide behind his cheeks as he smiled, imagining himself in situations where his brothers and sisters would finally get exactly what they wanted to eat.

It was heartwarming. He didn't regret his decision to help him anymore; he was a genuinely lovely boy. Very family oriented, and he seemed to study fairly often.

Labels often create such a bad image for people. Putting a troublemaker sticker on Jongho made everyone biased against him, when he's really a great person. He didn't want to break the law. Things just happened, and he landed where he did.

Jongho carried the basket through every aisle, clutching it close to his chest, items spilling out the top of it. Most of it was ramen and instant food; something easy for kids that didn't have much to work with. Underneath all of the crinkly plastic were cans of fruit and other things, something that Seonghwa suggested he get.

He didn't want to pressure the boy into focusing on the budget he set for the trip, but he also wanted to make sure he remembered that Seonghwa wasn't one who kept a lot of his salary. He was running on just enough to pay rent and buy food for himself and Anko.

At the end of the shopping spree, Jongho had gathered up several different jumbo packs of ramen, cup noodles, two large cans; one of peaches and the other with tropical fruit mix, a six pack of coca cola, one chips ahoy tray, and some beef jerky.

It didn't cost as much as he expected, and he sensed that Jongho was being especially wary of pricing for his sake.

He thanked him once they stepped out of the shop.